Allies and Traitors
by blaster24680q
Summary: Aphmau and co had found themselves on an unknown island. The island however is host to an ancient danger. After meeting the island's strange inhabitants, will the group become consumed by the land or shall they succeed and live to fight another day?
1. Chapter 1

Early morning, Aphmau and crew had woken to a slightly foggy morning. Aphmau herself had just gotten out of bed and walked up to ship's deck, giving a yawn and stretch as she reached the top. Katelyn leaned against one of the ship's mast, half nauseated.

"Uh..Morning Katelyn. You ok?"

"Uhg. Morning Aphmau. It's just a bit of morning seasickness. It'll pass. Just need a bit of ginger tea is all. How'd you sleep?" She asked as a wave of nausea caused her to gag a bit. Aphmau giggled a bit.

"I slept alright. How about you?"

"I managed. Took me a while to get to sleep, but the waves were soothing in a way so that helped."

"Good to hear Katelyn. So where's everyone else?"

"Laurence and Aaron should be at the bow of the ship practicing. Chad's steering. Travis and Lucinda are below deck trying to read more of the book. Isabell should still be in the crew compartments with Lilith Garnet, Vylad should be somewhere on the ship. Probably couldn't have gotten far to be honest cause you know…we're out at sea and all."

"Alright. Thanks Katelyn."

"No problem. Uhg…now if you excuse me. I'm going down to get some more tea." Aphmau giggled again as Katelyn headed below deck.

"I should probably check on Laurence and Aaron" She thought and headed towards the ship's bow, where the two men were in a heated spar, matching blow for blow as their sword clashed. Aphmau watched from a safe distance as the two fought. Laurence slashed at Aaron, who parried and kicked Laurence in side. Aaron went on the offensive as he thrusts his sword. Laurence returned Aaron's kick however when he dodges the blade, and punches Aaron square in the head, causing him to fall to the ground. Dazed, Aaron reached out to grab his sword and felt it's handle. Before he could grab it however, he felt Laurence's blade touch his chin.

"Yield." Said Laurence in a stern commanding tone.

"…It's your win Laurence." Said Aaron.

"Ha! Best 3 out of 5. Looks I'm the toughest guy on the ship." Laurence holds out a hand for Aaron.

"For today at least." Aaron takes the hand and stands up. The two gives each other a strong handshake before sheathing their swords.

"That was a good match guys, but playtime's over." Said Aphmau

"Ah Aphmau! How're you doing today?" Said Laurence.

"Doing fine. Thanks Laurence. So I see you two are doing a bit of training."

"It's best to train in the morning. The cold keeps a body strong and sharp." Said Aaron

"I'll take your word for that." Said Aphmau. Suddenly the entire crew went when they heard a scream coming from crew compartment.

"What was that?!" Said Laurence

"Isabell. She's below deck with-" Aaron stopped midsentence and the three's eyes widen when they realized what that meant. "Lilith Garnet!" Aaron made a rush towards below deck.

"The two might be in trouble we need to head down there now. Aphmau let's go." Said Laurence and Aphmau gave a nod and the two followed Arron closely behind. When they got to the crew's compartments they saw Isabelle standing on one of the beds holding a crying Lilith Garnet closly to her chest in order to protect her. Surrounding the bed is a horde of ravenous rats, each scampering and jumping up and down, trying to claw at Isabell's feet.

"Aphmau! Aaron! The rats! The rats! They're trying to take the baby!" She screamed. Aaron rushed in head long into the swarm. The rats turned their attention to Aaron as he began cutting them down one at a time.

Laurence we need to do something!" Said Aphmau.

"Couldn't agree more." He replied and the two joined Aaron. With their combined efforts the two to three dozen rats were quickly taken care of. When the last of the rats were slaughtered, Isabell took a step off the bed, cooing and shushing to calm down Lilith Garnet.

"Isabell what happened?" Asks Aaron.

"I-I don't know. I was just playing with Lilith Garnet then I saw a rat. At first I didn't think it was much, but then one became two, then two became ten. I had to grab her and run as they began to attack."

"Your feet…" Said Laurence, making notice that Isabell had some scratch marks and a one or two bites on her feet and lower leg.

"It-it's nothing. All that matters right now is that the baby's ok." Said Isabell as Lilith Garnet began to quiet.

"That's a relief. Still we should check the rest of the ship. There might be more rats aboard." Said Aphmau.

"Agreed." Said Laurence. "Aaron you stay here. Aphmau and I will gather the rest and try to clear this infestation."

"Understood." Replied Aarron as Travis and Lucinda rushed into the crew compartment from the ship's stores.

"Aphmau! Aphmau!" Said Travis as he ran in. He stops in his track when he saw the floor covered in rat corpses. "Whoa…so I see you found our little friends."

"Of course we did. They wanted Lilith Garnet!" Said Aaron with hints of hostility

"Aaron calm down." Said Aphmau and Aaron took a breath as he calms himself.

"The rats had entered the ship through a hole in the stores. It's amazing we weren't able to find any until now." Said Lucinda. "We've taken care of as many rats as we can where we came from. Katelyn's in there now trying to make sure there aren't any more."

"That's good." Said Aphmau "Hopefully we'll clean up the rats before-"

"Those little pests!" Shouted Katelyn prompting Katelyn, Laurence, Travis, Lucinda and Aphmau to head into the stores.

"Katelyn what's wrong?" Asks Travis

"The rats that's what's wrong! They ate all the food!" Said Katelyn, almost frothing at the mouth. "And what's more they ate ALL the ginger!"

"Oh no…" Commented Laurence

"That's bad right?" Asks Travis

"Very bad. Without food, we won't be able to stay at sea for much longer. And if we do we'll starve." Said Aphmau

"What!?" Said Katelyn "I mean we can still fish right? With the dead rats as bait? It's not like we'll starve all together right?"

"Maybe. But that's only a temporary solution. We even if we can fish, if the rats had also gotten into the water. With no water we'll die of dehydration long before we starve. And even if we're super lucky and live through the next eight to ten days without water..." Said Laurence

"Lilith Garnet…" Said Lucinda

"Exactly. We need to find a place to dock and fast. If we can dock at an island within 24 hours we can gather supplies and head back out without any risk to Lilith Garnet's health. Travis, Lucinda, go find Chad and help him find land."

"On it!" Said Travis and the two left.

"Laurence, Katelyn, we need to go around the ship and try to find as much uncontaminated food and water as possible. We'll ration it out and hopefully we'll have enough to keep the baby sated for a day at least." The two nods and began sifting through the store's barrels. "Lady Irene…please help us." She though as the cold morning began to warm.


	2. Chapter 2

As dawn turned to noon, the ship's crew were doing everything they can to make fix the situation they were in just that morning. Travis, Lucinda and Chad shouted and argued, well mostly Travis and Lucinda, about the direction they should go as Aaron and Isabell kept Lilith Garnet happy and distracted and as for Aphmau, Laurence and Katelyn, the three ran around the ship gathering up every bit of clean food and water they could find, which seemed futile as the rats had eaten or soiled most everything. All seemed lost until Vylad signaled

"Land ho! " He said, from atop the ship's mast.

"What?" Said Laurence as he Katelyn and Aphmau stopped their search to meet up with Vylad who quickly climbed down from the mast. "Where's you see it?" He asks

"Off the Starboard bow." Answered Vylad

"Uh…starboard?" Asks Katelyn

"On the right side, just off the bow."

"Did you see any signs of food? Vegetation and such?" Asks Laurence

"I didn't see much. But I did see some trees. Chances are there might be food on the island." Vylade replied. Laurence turned to Aphmau

"Aphmau what should we do?" Said Laurence. Aphmau thought for a second before giving her answer.

"We should head towards the island. There might not be another chance to find another place to forage from." She said. "We should take the chance that there will be food on the island."

"Agreed. I'll go tell Chad." Laurence left the group to report to the ship's helmsman. A roughly an hour later the ship stopped and docked on the island's beach. The sands crunched under their feet as Aphmau, Lucinda, Travis, Katelyn and Laurance walked up to the shore. Across from the shore is a moderately dense forest.

"You sure you don't want me to come with you?" Asks Aaron from the ship.

"Sorry Aaron." Replied Aphmau. "Better for the five of us to go then risk the entire crew. You're in charge Aaron. Keep the ship safe."

"Good luck Aphmau." Said Aaron.

"Thanks. Stay safe." She gives Aaron a smile when Laurence place a hand on her shoulder.

"We should head out. It's going to get dark soon."

"Yeah…you're right Laurence." Said Aphmau and she turns to the group. "Everyone ready? Travis, Katelyn?" The two gave Aphmau responding yeses. "Laurence, Lucinda?" The two nods. "Good. Let's move out. Hopefully we'll be able to get back before night." The away team traveled into the forest, unaware that inside a set of eyes watched them from the shadows. The team traveled for roughly half an hour with Laurence farther ahead to scout. Katelyn guarding the back as Aphmau took point with Travis and Lucinda right behind her.

"Hey Aphmau." Said Travis

"Yeah Travis?"

"This place…it gives me the creeps. It's like the entire place wants us out. Plus we haven't found one piece of fruit, wild vegetable or game animal." Said Travis

"What Travis is saying is true." Added Lucinda. "There seems to be something ominous in this forest. I can't quite put my finger on it but I know it's quite bad."

"Guys…I know this place is a bit creepy. But we need to try. If we can't find any food or water then Lilith Garnet's going to…I don't even want to think about it…" Replied Aphmau and Travis sighed

"Yeah you're right. Sorry I asked." He said

"It's ok Travis. Come on. Let's keep moving." Said Aphmau. Travis nods and kept his diligence. The group didn't get very far since that conversation however; as they were interrupted by a the sound of plants snapping followed by Lucinda's pained scream. "Lucinda!" cried Aphmau as she turns to tend to her friend. Lucinda had stepped onto a hidden pit trap. On the bottom of the pit is a layer of rusty scraps of sharp metal, sharp enough to pierce through her footwear. Katelyn had already begun helping Lucinda out from the pit as Travis attends to her wounds. "Lucida what happened here?"

"The pit…" Said Lucinda as she quickly became fatigued. "Someone placed that there…" Katelyn placed Lucinda on her back as Travis managed to get Lucinda's right shoe off her feet.

"This can't be good." Said Travis

"What can't be good Travis? Is Lucinda going to be ok?" Asks Aphmau.

"Look for yourself." Aphmau took a closer look and what she saw worried and frightened her. Lucinda's foot is a bloody mangled mess as the scraps of metal that managed to get through her footwear had lodged themselves into her flesh, with some of the longer bits jutting straight through her feet. What worried Aphmau however was that the flesh around the metal pieces had begun turning purple and it was slowly spreading.

"Aphmau…" Said Lucinda as she struggles to talk "I-I can't see from here…i-is it bad?" Aphmau takes another look at the foot and she didn't know what to say. From the look of the foot it seemed as if Lucinda was already in trouble.

"Aphmau" Said Katelyn "See if you can't heal her foot with your powers. Maybe you at least stop the infection." Aphmau looks at Katelyn and sterns her face. She knelt down gently grabs Lucinda's foot, causing the hurt witch to grimace in pain, and began to concentrated but nothing happened. She looks back at Katelyn with a worried look and shakes her head. "It's not working?"

"Why not?!" Said Travis "You've healed people before, why can't you now!?"

"Hey! Don't take that tone with Aphmau! She's trying her best and right now we need to stay calm and collected!" Replied Katelyn

"Yeah, yeah…sorry Aphmau." Said Travis

"It's fine Travis and…I'm sorry that I can't do much. I...don't know why it's not working." Said Aphmau. Laurence arrived from scouting soon after.

"I've found a stoned path! There's people on the- Hey what's going on?" He asks when he saw the group gathered around a fallen Lucinda.

"Laurence, it's Lucinda. She stepped into a trap and now she's-she's hurt, tired and-and my powers aren't working and she's getting worst!" Answered Aphmau, clearly distraught.

"Ok, ok. Calm down Aphmau. Acting like this won't get us anywhere. Let me see the wound." Aphmau nodded and moved to allow Laurence to kneel down and examine the injury. "Hmm…"

"Well? Is she going to be alright?" Asks Travis

"…I don't know." Replied Laurence "She's been poisoned but without the knowledge of what poisons was used we can't treat her."

"So then what? We leave her?" Said Katelyn

"Katelyn!" Exclaimed Aphmau "We're not leaving Lucinda!"

"Sorry. I spoke out of line…"

"We need to get her back to the ship. Hopefully Chad, Vylad or Aaron knows something about this and can treat it."

"Then we need to hurry. Lucinda's getting worst by the minute."

"I'll carry her. Travis you-…wait…" The forest became quiet. Too quiet.

"Laurence, what is it?" Asks Aphmau.

"Something's coming…" Laurence said as the distant sound of footsteps became clearer and clearer. He immediately stood up and draws his sword as an unknown assailant jumped from the brush, spear in hand and began his attack.

"Die Ape Man!"


	3. Chapter 3

Laurence parries the assailant's bronze tipped spear, allowing him to punch his attacker straight in the face. Due to Laurence's counter the attacker fell in its back, allowing the group to get a good look at the assailant, the sight of which shocked and bewildered them. The attacker looked like a cross between a animal and a feral man as he was nearly hairless and was very pale, with claws instead of nails, blood shot eyes, and had teeth sharpened to fangs.

"Everyone stand back!" Shouted Laurence as the starved man ran back into the brush. A tense quiet followed the man's leaving as words fail to escape anyone's lips. The silence was broken a moment later when Lucinda began to coughing up blood, bringing everyone to their senses.

"Luncinda!" Said Katelyn as she knelt down to examine her further.

"The poison's spreading faster and faster by the second." Said Aphmau "We need to move now. We'll search for after Lucinda's taken care of."

"Whatever you say Aphmau. I'll carry Lucinda." Said Travis "Laurence said something about a path near here right? If we follow that I bet we can reach the town there by-" Travis was interrupted when out from a nearby bush, the same man leaped into the air and landed on the young man's shoulders and began clawing at his face with his claw like nails. Travis began to scramble around trying to remove the feral man as Katelyn brings out her gauntlets.

"Don't move!" She shouted as she prepared to strike the attacker from Travis.

"Behind you!" Cried Aphmau as another feral man attempts to strike the blue haired warrior from behind using a shank made of bronze. Luckily Aphmau managed to draw her sword and blocks the shank wielding psycho. Laurence draws his sword to assist Aphmau, but when he did so two more feral men attack from the bushes, one wielding a shank and another wielding a sharpened rock. The Shadow Knight managed to dodge the noisy duo, but being outnumbered against strange inhuman creatures made the melee all the more difficult as the two continuously ran in to get a quick stab in, before running back out of Laurence's reach.

"I could use some assistance!" Said Laurence

"I would love to, but I'm trying to get this…thing off Travis!" Replied Katelyn as she repeatedly swings her fists at Travis, but fails to connect as feral man tugs and pulls at Travis's head to steer him clear of Katelyn's attacks. "Grrr, Travis, get that thing to steer you towards me!"

"You'd think if I could do that I would've done it?! This thing is stronger than it looks!

"Laurence, we can't deal with them like this!" Said Aphmau as she deflects a slash from her assailant and manages to slash the bronze shank from the attacker's hand. It didn't help much as the attacker, once it had been disarmed, jumped forward and grabbed Aphmau's sword attempting to wretch it from her hands. In the struggle Aphmau managed to pull the sword towards her and thrusts it forward, impaling the man. The man died immediately and Aphmau pulls the sword from the corpse and rushes to help Laurence. "Hold on I'm coming Laurence!" She said

"Well it's about time!" Replied Laurence as the repeated attacks, while failing to wound him even a single time, exhausted him. He takes a step back to prepare for the next attack but felt a sharp pain in his leg. He lets out a pained cry before looking down to see third feral man had bit him through leggings and into his flesh. He tries to kick the third feral man off, but was interrupted by the attacks from the first and second. Lucky for him Laurence wasn't the only one caught off guard as Aphmau charged into the first feral man, running him through, and knocking the other down with a punch, allowing Laurence time to drive his sword into the body of the biter, killing it after running it thorough the second time. He then kneels as he wasn't able to stand due to his injury. Aphmau gets between him and the remaining Feral man as it gets up from the blow.

"Laurence are you alright?" She asked.

"I'll be fine. It's just a small bite. Just finish that one off then we'll deal with Travis' if he still needs it." Laurence replied and Aphmau nods. She looks to the creature and the creature started back at her with its pale eyes. However it reacts as if hearing something, and sniffs the air. The creature was then filled with fear as it ran towards Aphmau, who prepared to defend herself, but was caught off guard when it simply ran past her into the dark brush. "That was…strange." Said Laurence, somewhat dumbfounded. The two hears the bushes in front of them rustle, along with the clanging of armor, causing Aphmau to once again take a defensive stance towards the noise. The two didn't wait long for a new challenger to appear, a giant black scorpion, the size of a bush, skittered through the brush, using its claws to cut through the foliage and riding it is an man, armored head to toe with glowing green eyes and holding a halberd in one hand and the reins to the Scorpion's saddle in the other. The man shouted in a strange language as he and his scorpion ran out of their ambush area. When the armored man saw the feral man corpses he looked around the area, first at Laurence, who was kneeling due to a wounded leg, then Aphmau who was still in a defensive pose, waiting for the man to attack, then at Lucinda who was at this point unconscious and breathing heavily on the ground, then finally at Katelyn and Travis who was still trying to get the feral man off Travis. The armored man chuckled a bit before pulling out what looked like short pipe and aimed it at Travis. Aphmau saw what the man was doing and jumped.

"No!" She cried as a small explosion rang out as smoke exited the pipe, and as if by magic something hit the feral man, knocking it from Travis and leaving a small bleeding hole in its chest. Aphmau tackled the man off his mount and began trying to wrestle the item from the armored man's hand but while doing so, the man lets go of his halberd and punches Aphmau square in the jaw, knocking her off him and giving him the time to get on top of the woman, pinning her down. Laurence could only watch as Aphmau stuggled to get free. He tries to stand up but the pain shot through his body whenever he put weight on his leg. He turns to look at Katelyn and Travis who had been processing why and how that feral man just fell off Travis like that.

"Katelyn, Travis! Lady Aphmau is in trouble!" He cried out to the two.

"What? Don't you-whoa!" Said Katelyn when she saw the giant scorpion and the man pinning down their friend. "Travis get your sword out!"

"So soon? Why's- whoa!" Said Travis when he saw the scorpion. "What the heck is that?!"

"I don't know but Aphmau is in trouble. Come on!"

"Right behind you." Said Travis as he draws his sword and the two rushed to Aphmau's side but was blocked when the scorpion stood between them and their friend.

"Alright you overgrown bug. I don't know what you are but if you just made a huge mistake." Said Katelyn as she and Travis began a charge towards the scorpion and the scorpion lets out a high pitched before doing the same.

"Everyone stand down!" Shouted the armored man as he struggled to keep Aphmau from freeing herself and everyone stopped their charges. "One thing at a time now." The armored man whispered to himself. "Vallus, make sure our guests don't try anything funny." The armored man said to the scorpion before addressing Aphmau. "And as for you, you damnable woman, just calm the hell down! I'm not your enemy; I'm for ally, and the longer you struggle, the more time you waste to save your friend." After hearing the man's words she stopped struggling and took a second to compose herself. "You calm? Good. Now on three, I'm going to let you free and I don't know if you noticed, but I got a very, very large scorpion on my side ok? One…two…three!" The man lets Aphmau go and stands up, allowing the woman to get up from the ground. The armored man then turned his attention to Lucinda while Aphmau turned her attention to Laurence, helping him up.

"What are you doing? And who the hell are you?" Said Travis

"For the second question, just know it's pretty much my job to patrol the area around here, and as for the first I'm taking your friend to my place to save her life. Unless you wanted to kill her off in the first place then I can just shoot her in the heart and be done with that." Said the armored man

"Why you…don't you dare-!"

"Travis stop!" Snapped Aphmau before turning to the armored man "You said you can help her right? If you can, please…her name is Lucinda and she's very important to us…" The armored man looked at Aphmau's desperate eyes and answers.

"Yes. I can save her. We just need to take her to my home and I can concoct an antidote for your friend here."

"Aphmau you can't be serious." Said Katelyn. "How do we know this guy is telling the truth? He might be working with those freaks for all we know."

"And what reason do you have for not trusting me?" Replied the Armored Man

"For one, you just magically appeared after those things had either bit it or ran."

"And I just shot one of those damned cannibals in order to save your friend." The is a moment of silence and the man sighed "Look. I know we don't look like the most trustworthy of people, but I can tell you, for what it's worth, that I have no reason nor interest of lying to you. I saved your friend from having his neck torn out and now I can save your friend from dying a slow, painful death. Hell I'll even take your brown haired friend there to a healer after we stabilize….Lucinda was it?"

"…We don't really have a choice do we?" Said Aphmau. "Can we at least get your name?"

"Later. Right now we need take care of your friend. One of you get the patient on the scorpion. Miss, do the same with the one with limp leg. Just stay close to me and I guarantee you that we'll be safe. The cannibals really don't like me since I've killed so many of them over the years."


	4. Chapter 4

It had been several minutes since the group had an unpleasant encounter with the Cannibals and the Armored Man. Laurence and Lucinda, since they were unable to walk, had to ride on a giant black scorpion that said Armored Man rode on when they first men them. Travis, Katelyn and Aphmau followed closely behind the scorpion with varying degrees of unease about them and at the head of the line is the Armored Mad, leading the Scorpion and keeping a vigilant eye on their surrounds, with a halberd in one hand and the other close to the explosive pipe hanging from his hip. Aphmau looks at Travis and Katelyn, and whispers to them.

"You both feeling alright?" She asks

"Better if we didn't have to follow the guy in front." Said Katelyn "Aphmau this guy, this place is giving me the creeps."

"I agree with Katelyn." Added Travis. "Ever since we entered this forest, I've been feeling…strange. I can't really explain it but it's like the land is just…drained of magic. You feel it to right?"

"No…" Replied Aphmau. "But it might explain why my healing didn't…it's going to be fine. The man said he can help Lucinda. And who knows, maybe he can help us find food and water for the boat."

"Yeah…but still we might be headed into a trap. With two of us down, we're in no position for another ambush, plus with Laurence and Lucida riding that Scorpion, he would have the perfect hostages."

"I guess…but there's no reason for us not to trust him right?"

"You're always the optimist." Said Katelyn.

"Yeah..I guess I am." Replied Aphmau.

"Hey!" Shouted the Armored man to the trio, turning their attention to the front. "Someone help the lady off Vallus. We're here." Aphmau and Katelyn walks up to the scorpion as the Armored Man slings Laurence's arm over his shoulder. When she reaches the front she sees in a small, dark and dank clearing is a small house, fit for two people, surrounded by a simple wooden fence and about a dozen Giant Scorpions, smaller than the black one the Armored Man rode but still rather large. Aphmau and Katelyn carefully lifts Lucinda from the mount and follows the Armored Man and Laurence with Travis following close behind.

"So this is where you live?" Asks Laurence "Looks a bit-"

"Dreary? Dark? Like a murder cabin?" Interrupted the Armored Man

"I was going to say lonely…"

"Oh…well it's that too." The Armored man opens up the door to the house, taking them into the main room, a spacious area with a small table with a single chair, a bookshelf filled with various pieces of literature, a counter with various herbs and potion making devices , an empty weapon's rack and a jar filled with what looks like small biscuits. The Armored man helps Laurence settle down on the only chair before setting down his halberd and pipe in the weapon's rack as Aphmau and Katelyn enter in with Lucinda. "Set Lucinda down my bedroom to the left. I'll be there shortly."

"Alright…come on Katelyn." The two turn left towards the bedroom as Travis enters the room.

"Hey you, uh…Snowball." Said the Armored Man to Travis.

"Snowball? My name is Travis" Replied the young man.

"Whatever you say Travis. Now look I need to help the red haired woman meaning you're going to have to bandage up your friend's leg." The Armored Man quickly looks over and pulls out a book from his shelf and grabs some bowls and a number of jarred herbs and mushrooms from the cupboards "Can you do that?"

"Yeah…sure I can do that." Said Travis

"Excellent. I got some bandages somewhere in those cupboards, so just look around. Feel free to some biscuits. Now if you excuse me…" The Armored Man leaves the main room and enters his bedroom where Katelyn and Aphmau watches over Lucinda as the witch laid out on the bed struggling to breath. "Ok I got my ingredients. " The Armored Man lays out his things on a nearby counter before addressing the two. "Now what's wrong with her? Tell me what happened."

"Are you blind? Look at her foot!" Said Katelyn

"Katelyn!" Aphmau snapped at her before turning to the Armored Man. "The five of us were walking around the forest near here and…Lucinda fell into a pit lined with-"

"With pieces of shrapnel coated with Flaying Toxin. I see." Interrupted the Armored Man

"Flaying Toxin?" Asks Aphmau

"A toxin made by extracting the poison from various plants in the area. It causes the skin of those afflicted to fall off in strips. Near incurable after the first 20 minutes, and fatal if left untreated for more than a day. It's a slow, painful, and some people can live with this disease for up to ten days before succumbing to the fevers, the pain or infections through the untreated sours. You're lucky that I ran into you when I did. Ok now first I need to extract the pieces of metal. The two of you hold her down. Your friend may look unconscious but I assume you she'll be able to feel whatever I'm about to do." Aphmau and Katelyn look at each other before complying as they held down Lucinda's arms and legs as the Armored Man took a deep breath before getting to work. He carefully removes Lucinda's foot to reveal the pieces of metal that was still lodged in her flesh. "Ok…this might get messy but stay calm and she'll get through this." The Armored Man gets a good grip on one of the pieces of metal and began to remove the debris from the foot. As the piece is removed Lucinda began to convulse and scream due to the terrible pain. Aphmau and Katelyn struggled to keep her from moving too much. Soon the piece is out and Lucinda calms down. "Ok I got a piece out." He said to the two while placing the piece in a bowl. "Now for the rest…" He whispered to himself as he got back to work.


	5. Chapter 5

Outside the bedroom, Travis waits around after crudely patching up Laurence's leg with the aforementioned bandages. The two can hear Lucinda's screams from where they were and as uneasy as they were, Travis couldn't bring himself to see what's going on, and Laurence was stuck in the chair, unable to get up and move. In between the screams, Travis can't help but explore the house a bit to keep himself distracted. He checks around the bookshelf to find only various books on potions, and those that weren't were in languages he couldn't read. He checked the weapons rack and grabbed the mysterious pipe. He examined the weapon, but couldn't make heads or tails of the thing.

"What, pray tell, are you doing?" Asks Laurence as he watched the young man fiddle around with the weapon.

"Just checking stuff out. I mean the guy's not going to be fuming at the mouth cause of it right?" Replied Travis

"Probably not, but are you sure you want to mess around with that?"

"Oh relax. Looks like a normal pipe with some wooden bits on it. It doesn't look that dangerous."

"Really? I saw that thing take out one of those Cannibals in a single shot. The very same Cannibal that was riding you the entire battle."

"Seriously? And how'd you think he do that? Magic?"

"Just put it down before you blow your head off."

"Whatever you say man." Travis sets the weapon down and moves onto the counter and cupboards. "Man what does this guy eat? There's nothing here besides some bowls, empty jars and a bucket." Travis looked around counters until his eyes fell on the biscuit jar just sitting there on the counter. "Hey, the guy said we're free to eat his biscuits right?"

"I believe he did." Said Laurence as Travis brings over the jar to the Shadow Knight and opens it up, revealing that it was full of small square biscuits. "Check it out! Full jar! You hungry?"

"Hmm…after everything that went on...with the attack and then the man meeting us...yeah I could go for some biscuits." Replied Laurence.

"Alright now we're talking!" Travis takes one of the biscuits from the jar and hands it to Laurence before taking out one for himself. The two bit into their biscuits in unison only to hear a crack when they did so.

"Di-Did you just…"

"Mmhmm…" The two let out cry of pain that was heard in the bedroom as the Armored Man finished up pulling the metal from Lucinda's foot.

"What was that?" Asked Katelyn upon hearing the two scream.

"Sounds like Laurence and Travis is in trouble." Added Aphmau. "Katelyn, you stay here. I'll go check on them."

"Alright. I'll stay here to help with Lucinda's treatment." Replied Katelyn and Aphmau nods before running out of the room. Once Aphmau left the Armored Man began to chuckle. "And what's so funny." She asks the Armored Man.

"Huh what? Oh nothing. Trust me when I say your friends are…relatively ok." He replied "As your friend here however I got all the metal bits out. Now I just need to…" The man opens up the book and began reading as he takes a clean bowl and began mixing and grinding together his herbs and mushrooms. "And now I need…" For his final ingredient, the man opens the bedroom window, pokes his head out. "Harbrand!" He calls out and a second later a Giant Brown Scorpion comes running to. "There you are you little cutie. Now just lower your stinger for a sec." The Scorpion complies as its stinger lowers to reaching distance and The Armored Man grabs the stinger, and holds the bowl underneath it, allowing some drops of venom to fall into the bowl. "And…there! Thanks bud." The Man pats the Scorpion's head before allowing to return to whatever it was doing at the time. He pulls his head back into the room and finishes mixing the concoction. "Alright the antidote should be done. If we're not too late then this will begin ridding her body of the toxin."

"Yeah…forgive me if I have doubts about the strange scorpion venom mush." Said Katelyn

"Well you got a choice. You can either take the antidote or-"

"Or let Lucinda die, you already said that…we don't really have choice though do we."

"First rude, and second no if you want her to live. Now if you give me a moment." The Man walks over to Lucinda's wounded foot, and takes some of the antidote in his hand and spreads it on her wounds, causing her body to tense. "Ok now that the antidote is applied directly to the wound we just need to wait and see if she wakes up." Katelyn looks at the man then at Lucinda's unconscious face. For a minute, the antidote seemed to have no effect as her condition wasn't bettering as her breathing was still very much stilted, but as the antidote took effect Lucinda began to stabilize. "There we go…I think it worked."

"You think?" Asks Katelyn

"I'm a patrolman not an apothecary. Plus I personally have no reason to fear getting poisoned. For now let's let Lucinda rest as the antidote heals her. In the meantime let's go check on your friends." The Armored Man collected his medical supplies before he and Katelyn leaves Lucinda to heal when they left for the main room. There they saw Aphmau tending to Laurence and Travis who had both nearly broke their jaws biting into the Armored Man's biscuits. While walking in the Armored Man laughed at the two. "Enjoy those biscuits friends?"

"What's wrong with you?!" Shouted Travis "Those things could kill someone!"

"Look I'm sorry but it gets boring here so you can't blame a guy for trying to entertain himself right?"

"So all you do is walk around the forest looking for people to rescue, then bring them here, and feed them biscuit sized bricks?" Said Laurence as he massages his jaw. The Armored Man thinks for a bit.

"Eh. More or less…by the memories I think I might be a psychopath."

"Yeah no kidding!" Replied Travis

"In any case..." Interjected Aphmau. "How's Lucinda doing? Is she going to be fine?"

"We think so. He said that she just need to rest." Said Katelyn

"You think so?" Said Travis "We come all this way, and you don't even know for sure if she's going to be ok?"

"Well As I told the blueberry-"

"Blueberry?" Interrupted Katelyn

"I'm sorry but I don't know your name so I gave you one on the spot. Now if you let me continue and just lower your fist before you do something stupid." Katelyn gave the Armored Man a sock to the head, but reels back as her fist colliding with the Man's metal helmet.

"Gah! By Irene you- Gaah!" Shouted Katelyn as she gripped her hand and the Armored Man readjusted his helmet, unaffected by the punch and offers a healing balm to Katelyn. "Yeah…thanks." She said as she took the balm.

"I-I am so sorry that happened." Said Aphmau, rather shocked at what Katelyn had done.

"Don't worry about it. It's not like it hurt or anything." Said the Armored Man as he placed his herbs and bowls on the counter. "Besides it's always nice to see that there are some humans willing to accept help from a Void Born."

"Void..Born. I'm sorry but…what's a Void Born?" Asks Laurence

"You're joking right? I mean it's not like we've been quiet for the past 600 odd years." Replied the Armored Man and the group stayed silent as they stared at him as if he was a crazed lunatic. "Oh come on, The Battle of Drakenwulf Forest? The Invasion of Ardby? The Crusade of Faith and Iron? These were epic Void Born led battles tens of thousands strong that could've change history as we know it!"

"I'm sorry but…I- we've got no idea what you're talking about…" Said Laurence and the an awkward silence followed suit.

"You're…telling the truth aren't you." Replied the Armored Man

"Yes…we're sorry but nothing you've said is familiar to us." Said Aphmau

"Right. Answering Time. First I want names." Asks the Armored Man

"Hold on. What makes you think we're just going to answer your questions?" Said Laurence

"Because I just saved your friend and used up my time and resources to help the five of you."

"Laurence it's ok. I don't think he means us any harm. And he DID help us. We owe him at least that much right?" Said Aphmau

"That's true Aphmau, but trust is a two way street. We don't even know where we are or even this man's name. Until we get our basis questions answers we can't rely on this man to help us any longer."

"That-…fine. Fair play on your part my friend." Said the Armored Man "Then I propose that we take turns. Each person in your group gets one question and I get four answers. Fair?"

"Depends. Aphmau?" Asks Laurence

"Hmm…you do make a good point Laurence….ok. We'll give you 4 answers and you give us 4 answers."

"Well if you must know, my name is used to be Wilbur for the first 34 years of my life, but know people know me as the Chelonian Knight or Chelonian. So that's what you may call me."

"Chelonian Knight? Kind of a strange name isn't it?" Said Travis

"Well it's not like I got any women to impress now do I? Now same question." Replied Chelonian

"My name is Laurence and my companions are Katelyn, the blue haired girl, Travis, and Aphmau." Said Laurence

"Right…Now who's next?"

"You mentioned that the…Void Born, had been here for up to 600 years here right? So where are we?" Asks Aphmau

"Here? Well assuming you don't know anything about this land, you're on the continent of Auraga, inside the Scorpion's Glade, just five miles from the Void Born City of Rolm."

"Auraga…"Aphmau repeated "I'm sorry but I'm not familiar with any of those places."

"Figures. If you don't know Void Born, then I doubted you're from here. Actually that brings up my question. What is your purpose for being here? Very few and I mean VERY few would enter the Scorpion's Glade on purpose without good arms and a reason too."

"Our purpose?" Said Aphmau and she looks at Laurence and Katelyn for their opinions but the two told her no with their stares. "I…can't tell you our purpose in the long run, but I can tell you that we're just trying to find food and water for our ship. We had a little…rat problem earlier and we can really use some help."

"Really? Well…I don't know if I can help you. Most of the Void Born's day to day diet consists of hardtacks, bland soups and porridges alongside some light ale or water. It's good in a pinch but on a voyage I would assume it might be rather difficult to stomach. I can take you to our leader, the Emerald Knight, however. Maybe he'll be able get you the supplies you need."

"That's perfect!" Replied Aphmau "Is it possible for us to go now?"

"Later. I still got two answers to receive and two questions to ask. Now if I remember correctly it's your turn."

"I'll go." Said Katelyn

"Right then. Ask away friend."

"You keep mentioning something about Void Born? What exactly are the Void Born?" She asks

"That's…a bit more complicated. To go into what are Void Born exactly would be rather long and bothersome, given our history, but to answer your question we're a race of immortal living armor."

"Immortal…living armor?" Asks Laurence

"Ok I think it's safe to assume he's crazy." Added Travis

"Oh really? Don't believe me?"

"No offense, but it is rather hard to believe." Said Aphmau

"That's fine. I don't expect you to believe me, but let me know the next time you talk to a fully armored man with glowing eyes and eats grass."

"Uh…what?" Replied Travis

"Forget I said anything. We…don't really know how we eat either so…erm…just know we're a race of immortal living armor people ok? So there. Now for my next question to break the awkwardness; where are you from?"

"Umm…ok?" Chuckled Aphmau "Now as for where I'm from, I'm from a region known as Ru'An. I can't tell you where, but I hope you find that answer sufficient?"

"Enough. Now onto your last question from…Snowball was it?"

"Snow- Travis you bucket head!" Shouted Travis

"Oh I know. Now the question?" Said Chelonian

"Right…so in that place, what do you call it?"

"Rolm."

"Yeah Rolm, in Rolm…are there any babes there?"

"…Really? No just-…Congratulations. I am actually at a loss for words. You earn a loaf of bread." Said Chelonian as he walks off to get Travis's reward.

"Whoo!" Cheered Travis "Wait…no!" Suddenly a large piece of hard bread smacked Travis in the head knocking him out. Chelonian walks back to the group soon after.

"Well I feel much happier now that I did that. Anyone else feel happier?"

"I kinda did." Said Katelyn

"Great so we're all happy." Said Chelonian

"So are we just going to ignore the fact you just knocked out Travis with a piece of bread?" Said Laurence

"It'll be for the best yes. Now for my last question, got a color preference?" The remaining three all couldn't figure out what to say, as Chelonian's question took them off guard.

"I'm sorry but what do you mean color preference? Like our favorite color?" Asks Aphmau

"No. I got Blues, Blacks, and Browns all fit for riding to Rolm. Just want to know so I can reserve a Scorpion for you. Oh and just so you know, the extra-large Black One? His name is Vallus and he's mine so no touch."

"Wait…so we're going to Rolm?" Asks Katelyn

"Yep. You guys sound like you're in a stick situation and what kind of patrolman would I be if I refuse to help some people in need? I mean come on, I'm not a monster, metaphorically speaking erm…well also literally speaking depending on who you ask, but that's a matter of debate. I'll go saddle up my five best Scorpions and prep them for the travel to Rolm. We'll leave the moment Snowball and Lucinda wake up."

"Thank you so much!" Said Aphmau "You can't imagine how much you're helping us."

"Hey don't sweat it. Now I got to get the Scorpions ready. Meet me outside with the others when they wake up.


	6. Chapter 6

In Chelonian's bedroom, Aphmau sits next to Lucinda reading a book as the witch slumbers peacefully on the patrolman's bed. It didn't take long for Lucinda to show signs of waking up as she began to groan and place her hand on her head. Aphmau notices the change and quickly places down the book on a counter before tending to her friend

"Lucinda you're awake!" Said Aphmau as Lucida sits up with Aphmau's help

"Ugh…I feel like my head's filled with mush." Said Lucinda "Uh…Aphmau, where are we?" She asks

"It's…a long story Lucinda. The short version was that after you were injured, we were attacked by these…cannibals but we fought them off and was found by a patrolman named Chelonian Knight. He brought us here and healed you as best he can. Now we're getting ready to head out to a nearby city called Rolm." Aphmau replied

"Rolm…I'm not familiar with that city."

"It's fine. I'm pretty sure no one knows what or where Rolm is. As far as I know we're in foreign territories."

"I see. That is rather troublesome news. In any case I would like to meet this Chelonian in order to thank him for his help. "

"No problem Lucinda. In fact we're supposed to head out once you wake up."

"Perfect. Let's not keep the others waiting then." Lucinda tries to stand up from the bed, but fails to put on and weight on her foot as the wounds were still too fresh. Aphmau quickly helps Lucida regain stability as the witch nearly fell due to her lack of balance.

"You're still hurt Lucinda. That's actually one of the reasons we're heading to Rolm. Chelonian said there's a healer there that can heal your foot."

"A healer? Were you not able to heal the wound on your own?"

"No…I tried before but for some reason my powers won't even respond."

"Odd…we should investigate this later when we have the chance."

"Sounds like a plan. Now come on, let's get you outside." Aphmau slings Lucinda's arm over her shoulders and the two made their way outside where Katelyn and Laurence sat comfortably on their scorpions while they watched Travis shout at Chelonian.

"You just knocked me out with a piece of bread!" Shouted Travis

"And again I told you that I apologize. Now what more do you want, my freaking house?" Replied Chelonian

"You could've killed me!"

"No I couldn't. Plus if I wanted to kill you I would've shot you with my flintlock."

"Your…what?"

"Don't worry about it friend. Now are you going to get on your Scorpion or would you like to stay here and break more teeth on some more hardtacks?"

"Is everything alright?" Ask Aphmau as she and Lucinda makes their way over.

"Hmm? Oh hey! It's about you woke up." Said Chelonian

"Aphmau, you saw this guy knock me out right?" Asks Travis

"Well…" Replied Aphmau

"You did kinda deserved it." Said Katelyn

"In what way did I deserve to be knocked out by stale pastry?!" Said Travis and Aphmau chuckled

"Well Chelonian said he was sorry right? And I'm _sure_ he's going to make it up when we get to the city. Right Chelonian?"

"Uh yeah sure. Whatever the lady says. Now onto the Scorpion Travis while, I tend to your friends." Said Chelonian and Travis begrudgingly obeys and heads off to mount his Scorpion. Chelonian then tends to the Aphmau and Lucinda. "Now ladies, need any help getting on one of these magnificent beasts?"

"I think we're fine. Shouldn't be too hard right? Besides one person would be enough to help Lucinda." Replied Aphmau

"Hey suit yourself. Now if you excuse me." Chelonian leaves the two as Aphmau helps Lucinda onto a giant Scorpion before mounting her own. The patrolman mounts his personal Scorpion Vallus "Right, so everyone settled in? It's going to be a couple minutes to Rolm, so just lay back and take in the scenery. To Rolm Vallus!" The Scorpion responds with a cheerful clicking and headed out into the forest. The Scorpions Aphmau and co rode followed in a neat line. Chelonian led the group through a well-worn but safe path through the forest. A few minutes of riding, and the group finally exited the Scorpion Glade, and in the distance the group saw their destination. A large city, encircled by a stone wall, with vigilant Void Born archers stationed atop and in the middle a grand stone fortress. "And here we are people! I give you, the Void Born city of Rolm. 550 years and that city still look great from this distance." The group made their way to the city gates, where the group was stopped by a pair gate guards.

"Halt!" Said one of the guards before walking up to Chelonian "Greetings Sir. Done with patrols rather early aren't you?" the guard asks

"Well I assume you can see that I came along with a couple of visitors. They say they're travellers from another land and needed some help. We're just going to see a healer then the Emerald Knight"

"Can't help but play hero to the fleshies huh?"

"Watch yourself Guardsman. These people are my guests and you shall respect them as such."

"O-of course Sir. I'll send a runner to the Emerald Knight in let him know that you're coming." The Guard turns to the group "My apologies. Enjoy yourselves while you're in Rolm." With that the Guard returns to his posts before he and his partner opens up the gate, allowing the Scorpions in. Chelonian sighs

"Sorry about Freeman. Some of the newer Void Born tends to have sort of a superiority complex." Said Chelonian

"Superiority complex?" Asks Aphmau

"Well think about it. We don't need to eat or drink or even breathe if we don't want to, poisons won't affect us, we don't feel pain, we can't get tired and we're stronger than the average human. All that combined with our immortal life spans and the fact that we can't be killed, makes some of the newer generation rather elitist. Anyways, enough talking. We're just about here." Said Chelonian and the Scorpions stop outside a moderately sized wooden building. The Void Born climbs off his scorpion and walks up to the door before knocking on it a few times. "Hey Ranold! It's me Chelonian!" A second later the door was opened by a Void Born with purple eyes, made of gold instead of the iron and steel of the others.

"Ah hello there my friend. Wonderful to see you, absolutely wonderful. Why don't you come in? I just put a pot of water on the stove."

"Actually Ranold, I can't stay for long. I'm actually here because my friends here are in need of healing."

"Do they?" Asks Ranold as he walks up to Vallus "Vallus doesn't look particularly injured, in fact his chitin looks to be brighter than ever."

"Not Vallus Ranold. My human friends." Chelonian gestures to Aphmau and co

"Hmm? Oh terribly sorry for that. I've been rather busy with my work as of late and I've been rather sleep deprived." Said Ranold to the group

"It's fine Ranold. Anyways this is Aphmau, Katelyn, Laurence, Lucinda and Travis."

"Greetings my friends. I am Ranold, the local Sigilsmith in these parts. Pardon for my flight of madness earlier. Now what seems to be the problem?"

"There was a small scuffle in the Scorpion Glade earlier today. Needless to say Laurence and Lucinda were both injured."

"Ah so healing then. Then bring them in. In my care, they'll be cured of what ails them. And what of you Chelonian? Is there anything you need?"

"Not today I'm afraid. I'm heading off to meet Emerald Knight soon. "

"Right, right, business never stops and all that. Now just bring them in and I'll take care of them." Aphmau and Katelyn help Laurence and Lucinda inside where Ranold is prepping up a hot brand and two sets of bandages." Now if you may…" Ranold gestures to a medical bed.

"You should go first Lucinda. You took the hardest blow out of all of us." Said Laurence

"If you insist." Said Lucinda and with Aphmau's help she sits down on the bed. Once Lucinda was in position Ranold carefully removes Lucida's previous bandaging and examines to wound.

"Hmm…this wound seems newly cleaned. Flaying Toxin?" Said Ranold to Chelonian who nods. "You're lucky to be alive then young lady. From the looks of this the Toxin nearly sat in. But based on your injuries you and I assume Chelonian didn't have the means to completely heal you?"

"No." Said Aphmau. "I tried to heal her earlier but it didn't work for some reason."

"Hmm…I see…and I assume you tried to heal this young woman with magic?"

"Uh…yes. Why would that matter?" Asks Aphmau as Ranold began applying fresh bandages to Lucinda.

"It may be shocking to newcomers, but magic won't work anywhere within several miles of Rolm. It's because of the Void Born's consumption of most forms magic you see."

"I'm sorry but, what do you mean by consumption?" Asks Laurence

"I'm sure you've felt it if any of you were mages or magical beings or of the sort, but in case you haven't, Void Born, at our core, are undead beings, and as undead beings require magic to exist, so do the Void Born. It's just instead of draining magic from a necromancer or summoner; we drain magic from the very air itself." Replied Ranold

"One Void Born won't be able to do much, maybe fizzle out a small fireball or something, but a couple hundred can create something like an anti-magic aura that can stretch for a couple hundred feet, but when you include a couple thousand…" added Chelonian

"You get that exact same aura stretching for miles and miles." Answered Travis

"Exactly Mr. Travis. Ah how I love to educate the young. I must have been a teacher in my past life." Said Ranold. "Now Ms. Lucinda advise you to stay calm." Ranold finishes up the bandaging and picks up the hot brand

"Whoa, whoa! You're going to heal her by searing her?" Said Katelyn

"My dear girl, I said that MOST forms of magic are unusable in Rolm. This brand however is one of the only types of magic usable. An ancient form of magic, dating back to the times of the Old Empire known as Sigils. Sigils, like the Void Born drain magic from the air and store it within themselves. Though weaker than the normal form of magic, the effects can still be rather remarkable. Now watch." Ranold pressed the brand on Lucinda's foot and with the bandages glowed a golden green for a few moments before disappearing. She takes a pair of scissors and cuts open the bandage to show Lucinda's fully healed foot.

"Remarkable…" Said Lucinda.

"Yes, such is the power of Sigils my dear girl. Now for the next patient. Before you leave Chelonian, there's a matter of payment to be had. Sigils are rather expensive to produce and make you know.

"I'll send some of my next pay directly to you Ranold. In any case, Aphmau, you ready to leave?"

"If it isn't too much trouble, may I ask that you wait until my leg is healed?" Asks Laurence. Chelonian looks at Ranold

"Uh…I'm sorry to say dear boy, but that was the only Sigil of Healing that I had. I will require time to make another. There's not much demand for Sigils of Healing around here as you can assume."

"It's ok Laurence. Besides it might be better if I showed up without a Guard as a sign of trust."

"Are you sure? At least take Katelyn or Travis with you. We're still in foreign territories and I would feel better knowing that you have a guard to keep you safe."

"Don't worry about it Laurence. Besides Chelonian would be enough to handle any thugs trying to attack me right?"

"You'd think." Said Chelonian, which garnered a distrustful look from Laurence. "I'm kidding. Lighten up, friend. She's safe with me."

"Well…if you say so…and if you're sure about going alone Lady Aphmau."

"I'm sure Laurence."

"Now Aphmau, shall we head off?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Aphmau and Chelonian exits the building. The two saddles up on their Scorpions and heads off to the fortress located in the center of the city. The trip was short but when they got there, Aphmau couldn't help but stare in awe. The stone fortress seemed older than any building she has seen back in Ru'an, but had a feel of strength and power. At the fortress gates stands two guards, unlike the guards at the front, these two were more heavily armored, wielding intimidating great swords and stood with a sense of honor and duty. Aphmau and Chelonian climbed off their mounts before heading to the gate. When the two approached, the one of the guards stopped them.

"Hold!" Said the guard

"I sent a messenger about a meeting with the Emerald Knight. Did he receive it?" replied Chelonian

"That he did Sir Chelonian. He awaits you in the throne room. Is this woman your guest?"

"That she is Sir Wolfe, that she is. May we enter?"

"Of course. Excuse me." The guard signals to his partner for the door to be opened, before turning back to the two. "The Emerald Knight is in the throne room as I stated before. May you have honor in duty."

"And may you have honor in duty as well Sir Wolfe." Chelonian and Aphmau walks into the fortress and into through the various hallways, entered the main throne room, where a giant Void Born with green eyes, clad in green armor, twice the size of any normal person, sits on its giant throne and waits for the two. When Chelonian enters, the giant stands up from its throne and walks over to Patrolman

"Ah Chelonian Knight, it is so good to see you." Said the Emerald Knight

"Good to you too Emerald. Now for introductions, Aphmau?"

"Oh uh…yes" Aphmau felt rather nervous talking to a giant but she clears her throat and put on her most formal tone. "Hello Lord Emerald Knight. My name is Aphmau of Phoenix Drop. I'm honored to be able to speak to you."

"Lord?" Replied the Emerald Knight. "Dear girl, a simple Sir would suffice. I am not a lord nor a king, do I claim to be so."

"I'm sorry then Sir Emerald Knight. I just assumed-"

"It is quite alright Lady Aphmau. Forgive me for that correction. As for myself, I am known by my people as the Emerald Knight, leader of the Void Born, and I am honored to have you in my court. Now what is it that you need? According to the messenger, Chelonian Knight here has been helping you and several of your friends have he not?"

"Yes. He found us in the nearby forest and saved one of my friends from a deadly poison. He also helped me by bring me here Sir Emerald Knight."

"Oh? Explain to me how that is?"

"You see…I came here on a boat, and earlier today our food and water stores were destroyed by a swarm of rats. We docked here for in search of food and water, and I have come to you to ask for supplies for the remainder of our trip."

"I see. In that case I shall need some time to consider this. In any case I request that you bring your crew here to Rolm. It will be easier to calculate the amount of food, and I assume your friends would appreciate sleeping on dry land for the night should be need arises."

"Thank you my L- Sir Emerald Knight."

"It is my pleasure Lady Aphmau." The court was then interrupted when a guard runs into the throne room.

"Sir Emerald Knight!" Said the Guard "There is trouble out near the coast!"

"Easy Guardsman, what trouble are you referring to?" Asks Emerald Knight

"My patrol, we found a boat. We thought it was abandoned but when we boarded we were attacked by a swordsmen and a bowman."

"A boat…wait, if I may ask, what did the attackers look like?" Asks Aphmau as she began to worry

"The attackers? I couldn't get a clear look, but I believe they were two humans, one clad in black and the other clad in green."

"Oh no…Sir Emerald Knight, that boat your men have found is the one I came on!"

"Aphmau, are you sure?" Asks Chelonian

"I'm sure. We need to get there before anyone gets hurt."

"We are in agreement." Said Emerald Knight "Chelonian, how quickly can you reach the coast?"

"Several minutes. Scorpions can climb over anything and everything. It'll be even faster if we ride along the water." Answered Chelonian

"Then you and the Lady Aphmau go immediately. Guardsman, alert the guard about Chelonian's departure and say that I order them to not interfere.

"At once Sir!" Said the Guardsman before leaving. Chelonian and Aphmau followed suit as they rushed to their Scorpions just outside the fortress gates. After they were mounted the two Scorpions hastily made their way over buildings and walls towards the coast.


End file.
